Churches form collaborative, share priest

Thursday

Jan 31, 2013 at 12:01 AMFeb 1, 2013 at 2:49 PM

By CINDY DOW

By CINDY DOW

Associate Editor

Attendees of the Sacred Heart Church in Middleboro and Sts. Martha and Mary Parish in Lakeville will have already noticed some of the changes coming their way as part of the first phase of the Pastoral Plan for the Archdiocese of Boston, as the two parishes become one of 28 collaboratives.

"We actually started last year, when Father Richard Crowley from Sacred Heart and Father Francis Daley, from Sts. Martha and Mary, both officially retired," said Sts. Martha and Mary Business Manager Amy Dow. "Father Paul Aveni was put in as pastor for both parishes. Now we are officially in Phase one, but we had kind of already started, with staff meeting together and getting to know each other, seeing how we can work together."

The Archdiocese is following a different action than was taken in 2005, when declining numbers of priests and financial pressures on the church resulted in reconfiguration that closed or merged parishes. At that time St. Rose of Lima Church in Rochester merged with the Middleboro's Sacred Heart Church, becoming part of the Sacred Heart Parish. The parish maintains both buildings. With the collaboratives, there will continue to be two separate parishes, but the parishes will share resources — including the pastor.

In a statement released by the Archdiocese of Boston, the pastoral plan is described, "Each parish maintains its own identity within the assigned collaborative. Each parish retains its canonical rights its buildings, its financial assets and obligations. The collaborative will have one Pastor who will work with one Pastoral Team, one Parish Pastoral Council and one Parish Finance Council. Together they will develop a pastoral plan for their local collaborative, focused on serving the needs of the parishes in their particular collaborative and advancing the mission of the New Evangelization. "

One change that has already gone into effect is the adjustment of the daily mass schedule. Previously, Sacred Heart Church offered mass at 8 a.m. and Sts. Martha and Mary Church offered it at 9 a.m. Because Father Aveni cannot be in two places at the same time, the schedule had to be adjusted. Sacred Heart Church offers mass at 8 a.m. on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, and Sts. Martha and Mary Church offers mass at 8 a.m. on Thursday and Friday, and at 9 a.m. on Saturday. Sunday services remain the same.

Traditionally priests in neighboring parishes would talk and help across parish lines when needed, but under the collaborative that assistance will spread. Ms. Dow said the religious education staff, office staff, custodial staff, financial planning committee, and pastoral team are now meeting each other and starting to learn how to best meet the needs of the communities as a collaborative.

One of the key goals of the Pastoral Plan is to revitalize the church for the "New Evangelization," or reaching out to Catholics who are not currently active in the church. The plan is anticipated to take five years to be put fully into place.

According to the Pastoral Plan, the Phase One collaboratives have been chosen specifically for their readiness to implement the plan, and for the help they can offer other parishes in the Archdiocese in order to help them learn from the Phase One collaborative experience.

"We don't have a roadmap of how to do this — we're making the road as we go along," said Ms. Dow. —We're going to be helping those in Phase two, further down the road. They'll be able to learn from us."

Never miss a story

Choose the plan that's right for you.
Digital access or digital and print delivery.